1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a cellular phone, and more particularly to a cellular phone having a function of, when an incoming call is received, generating an incoming call tone to inform a user of reception of the incoming call.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a user possessing a cellular phone sets an incoming call tone for, when an incoming voice call is received, or when an E-mail call is received, informing the user of reception of the incoming call according to user's own preferences. The incoming call tone thus set is an incoming call tone, the data of which is stored in a cellular phone in advance when the cellular phone is purchased.
In addition, the set incoming call tone is an incoming call tone, the data of which is downloaded by a user from a server of an enterprise providing a service for delivering incoming call tones to be stored in a cellular phone. Moreover, such a set incoming call tone is an original incoming call tone data of which is created by a user to be stored in a cellular phone.
A user may set one incoming call tone (e.g., incoming call tone melody) signaling reception of an incoming voice call and another one signaling reception of an incoming E-mail call in some cases.
Even when a large number of kinds of data of incoming call tone melodies are stored in a cellular phone, only one incoming call tone melody can be used at a time by a user. Thus, when a user desires to generate multiple kinds of incoming call tone melodies to take pleasure in them, the user needs to manipulate the cellular phone to change the setting of an incoming call tone melody. When a user does not change the setting of the incoming call melody tone since a user feels that an operation for changing of the setting of the incoming call melody tone is troublesome, the cellular phone generates the same incoming call melody tone at every reception of an incoming call. Consequently, a user can not take pleasure in multiple kinds of incoming call melody tones.
Then, a system is proposed for selecting at random an incoming call tone melody which is to ring when an incoming call is received (refer to JP 2002-204286 A for example).
In addition, there is a cellular phone in which data of a single incoming call melody tone is divided into a plurality of parts data of which is in turn stored in the form of division data. This cellular phone, when ever an incoming call is received, rings different incoming call melody tone obtained from the division data (refer to JP 2000-354087 A for example).
However, in the system described-in JP 2002-204286 A, an incoming call melody tone ringing when an incoming call is received is selected at random in correspondence to an instantaneous value of a program counter of a microcomputer in the system. Hence, a specific incoming call melody tone may not be selected for a long period of time in some cases. Also, there is a possibility that an incoming call tone melody which, though its data is stored in the cellular phone, is not desired to be used as an incoming call tone melody may be selected.
In addition, the method described in JP 2000-354087 A does not cope with use of a plurality of kinds of incoming call tone melodies. For this reason, in a case where a user desires to use another incoming call tone melody, the user needs to divide data of another incoming call tone melody into a plurality of parts and to set an incoming call tone. For this reason, a user must carry out a complicated manipulation.